The Return of the Avatars
by The Mystic Avenger
Summary: My latest paratime story. I busted my ass to write this one, literally, my powers as well. Enjoy. Rated K for mild swearing in some places. Does the F word count as mild? Oh well.


**The Return of the Avatars**

_I haven't written, or paratime traveled for the better part of several months now. Too much to do with university, and my meditations have been more teaching me about the nature of time, rather than allowing me to travel through it. I still practice retro-psychokinesis often, but beyond that, I haven't had much opportunity to travel the timelines. However, just yesterday, I did get to do an astral trip to the Charmed Universe. I saw that Chris and Wyatt were just getting started to vanquish some of the new low-lifes springing up, and it looked like they didn't need any help, so I returned to my body. Still though, it did inspire me to write a story about their coming of age, and of course, yes, I still show up to lend a hand on keeping the timeline correct. The first two scenes of this story are based off my astral trip. The rest is purely my imagination. I don't own any Charmed characters, The Mystic Avenger I own and is my fictional counterpart, and other than that, enjoy. –Uthuriel._

Jim Brown retreated back into his astral form and left his body. It felt so good to finally be free of his daily life and ready to continue his travels through time and space. The Lord hadn't called him for any assignments in the past while, just the usual protecting of the universe from attempted demon infiltrators.

"Time globe," he said. "Show me the nearest paratime problem needing to be dealt with."

"Time line confirmed," echoed the time globe. "Universe 6133, magic timeline, better known to you as the Charmed Universe. Commencing astral projection now." At that moment, The Mystic Avenger was enveloped by a white light, and appeared in a dingy attic.

'So this is where I've ended up,' he thought. 'Funny, last time I was here the Halliwell Manor used to be a lot more lively.' At that moment, two young men walked into the attic and flipped on the light. One of them promptly threw up a shield and the other one threw The Mystic Avenger across the room with a wave of his hand.

The Mystic Avenger promptly did a somersault in mid air and flapped his wings twice to prevent him from getting shot into the wall. He then turned and addressed the two.

"Hey you two, what gives?" he asked, a bit surprised.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in our house?" asked the one who had thrown up the shield.

"Well, I was here about 20 or 30 years ago relative to your time. For me it's been about 4 years," The Mystic Avenger said. "Your parents should know who I am."

"I don't know Wyatt," said the telekinetic. "Do you think he might be an angel of destiny or a demon?"

"Well there's no precedent for it Chris," said Wyatt scratching his head. "The only time an angel of destiny showed up of its own volition was when Mom and Dad decided to have me, but beyond that, there shouldn't be any reason one would be here."

"Woah, hold on, Angel of Destiny?" asked The Mystic Avenger. "You mean to tell me that some of the Paratime Force have been revealing themselves here? That's in direct contradiction of the Lord God's word."

"Yes, Angel of Destiny," said Chris. "You know, white wings, shaping peoples' lives? Where have you been?"

"Well, truth be told, I'm not from around here," said The Mystic Avenger. "I am an angel, yes, but I live in a universe where you are regarded as fictional. When you said Angel of Destiny, that sounds strangely like one of my colleagues. I got sent here, perhaps your Angels of Destiny can brief me in." At that moment, an older man walked in.

"All right you two, Piper's getting angry. She's having that party with her friends, and if you don't quell that warlock, she's going to have you two- Who are you?" he asked when he saw The Mystic Avenger.

"Hey Leo," The Mystic Avenger said. "Surely you recognize me. I was here a long time ago. I was probably known as Aikiboy back then, training to have my angelic past revealed to me?"

"Oh, right," said Leo. "Well, what brings you out here? Piper and the sisters would love to see you, why not stay for dinner?"

"Thanks, I'd like that," said Mystic.

"Um, dad, who is this?" said Chris. "You never told us about an angel being one of your friends."

"Well, it wasn't anything major," said Leo. "He popped in every now and again. Sometimes with a young teenage girl. Mostly he was trying to get some help with his charges and he asked us for advice."

"Dad, I'm also curious, what's Paratime?" asked Wyatt.

Leo looked over at Mystic and said, "You want to handle this one? Or should I?"

Mystic said, "Let's deal with it later. Right now, I'd like to go and meet the sisters and catch up on the years I missed." They all walked downstairs, none of them suspecting, not even Mystic, that a rather unusual entity was lurking in the shadows. The entity smiled, and phased out of the room.

Downstairs, Piper was in the Kitchen just finishing up her Gratinée for the party. The whole family was coming over to celebrate their 20th anniversary of the destruction of the Triad, and Piper had even invited some of her friends from the new book club she had joined over to have a pre-dinner drink. Fortunately, every one of them had accidentally seen Piper perform magic at one time or another and were all in on the secret.

At that moment, Leo walked in and Piper, caught off guard, knocked the just finished Gratinée onto the floor. Before Piper could freeze the pan, Mystic manipulated time and caught the Gratinée, placing it back in Piper's hands.

"Ok…" said Piper. "Who are you, and what are you doing in my kitchen?"

"This is Aikiboy," said Leo. "It's been a while since he showed up."

"Aikiboy, hi," said Piper. "This really isn't a good time for you to be here, I have a dinner party to set up, so shoo, shoo."

"Hey, easy," said Mystic. "Actually, I either go by Mystic, or my angelic name Uthuriel, whichever you want, and hey, I can always help clean up."

"Mystic?" asked Leo and Piper simultaneously.

"It's short for The Mystic Avenger, Paratime Angel Extraordinaire," said Mystic.

"Got a nice ring to it," said Leo, smiling pleadingly at Piper.

"Oh, all right," said Piper. "But no more of that time stuff you're doing. I've been able to live without magic for almost 20 years now, and my kids are just coming into their own, so I want to be able to handle magic one bit at a time."

"Fine by me," said Mystic. "Now, what do you say that I help whip up some of those greens?"

In their monitoring room, the Avatars were in a heated debate.

"The demons are coming back now. Now is the time to strike," said one Avatar "Humanity has lived in peace without demons or fighting for 20 years, and they won't want to lose that peace. If we can join forces now, we can quell the demons before they really get to their full strength and start attacking. Now might be the time to fully instill that peace."

"We don't have enough power," said another Avatar. "To achieve the new world we seek, we will need the help of the Charmed Ones' successors. They are the two most powerful magical beings this world has ever seen. Only with their alliance can the collective be strong enough to instill Utopia."

"We may have a problem there," said the mysterious figure, fading in

"Ah, Zachariah," said the head Avatar. "Please, make your report."

"Well, the Charmed successors are ready to continue," said Zachariah, "but a new element has played into this. Apparently some angel who's from another universe has been sent by the powers that be."

"An angel should be of no consequence," said the second avatar. "If we go now, we might be able to convince Wyatt and Chris to join us."

"Don't be so sure," said the Head Avatar. "I sensed a temporal disturbance recently. Can you shed any light on that Zachariah."

"The angel did say he belonged to something called the Paratime Force," said Zachariah.

"That means he's been sent by the Angels of Destiny," said the Head Avatar.

"He could be a powerful ally if we can convince him that Utopia is the correct timeline."

"But won't his temporal powers jeapordize ours?" asked the first Avatar. "His kind are supposed to be able to do even more with time than we can, even intersect parallel universes."

"All the more reason to get him on board," said the Head Avatar. "If he's willing to support our cause, we could instill Utopia throughout the entire multiverse. Zachariah, change of plans. Ignore the Charmed successors for now, and find out everything you can about this angel. Find out what his capabilities are, and how he thinks. If we can find a way to bring him on side, good. If not, he must be kept out of the way to make sure Utopia can be reinstated. For Utopia."

"For Utopia," said the Avatars, and returned to their respective jobs.

Back at the Halliwell Manor, the party was in full swing. People were serving drinks, and everyone was talking and having fun. Phoebe was there with Coop, and even Paige and Henry were there with their kids. Even Grams and Patty were back from the dead just to enjoy the occasion. At that moment, Piper dinged her glass and said, "I'd like to make a toast. We have been free of demon attack and everything else evil for the better part of 20 years. 20 years ago, we defeated the Triad, retired as Charmed ones, and never looked back. I'd like to propose a toast to peace, may we never lose it."

"To peace," everyone said, and took a drink.

Mystic walked up to Phoebe and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yes?" asked Phoebe.

"It's been about 24 years now," said Mystic. "Remember I showed up as an incorporeal when Cole was still around?"

"Aikiboy?" asked Phoebe.

"I go by Mystic now, but yeah," said Mystic.

"How are you?" asked Phoebe giving him a hug. "The years have been kind to you, you practically haven't aged."

"I've aged about 4 years relative to your time zone," said Mystic. "So, I haven't had a chance to meet your kids yet. Last I saw on TV in my universe, you had 3 daughters."

"Their busy elsewhere tonight," said Phoebe. "They decided to do a tour of all planes of existence. God knows why."

"So, who's this guy, huh?" asked Paige, walking up behind Mystic.

"Oh, The Mystic Avenger," said Mystic. "I used to be Aikiboy."

"Well this is my husband Henry," and these are my two boys, Michael and Jeff. Mystic looked down at two boys, aged 6 and 8.

"Cute tykes," said Mystic. At that moment, he grabbed his head in pain and fell to his knees.

"What's wrong?" asked Phoebe.

"Temporal shift," said Mystic. "Somebody's entering my timeline, can't fight it." And at that moment, Mystic disappeared.

Mystic appeared in a white room, almost like an Atrium. He saw a whole group of angelic figures flying around him. Mystic flapped his wings and flew up to them, shaking his head to clear it of the nausea he still felt.

Do not be alarmed Mystic heard in his head. We're here to protect you.

What's going on? he thought telepathically.

You were sent here on assignment, not to socialize the beings thought to him.

We are in a period of grave danger yet again.

Well I know the demons are coming back, but I hardly think that's reason enough to pluck me out of my time stream thought Mystic.

It's not the demons we are concerned about thought the beings. A force you know as the Avatars is trying to resurface. And unfortunately, there is not much time to stop them.

Mystic attempted to read their minds, but was flanked up by a psi wall. From what I can gather, he thought telepathically, I take it you are the Angels of Destiny.

Yes, and you were sent here by our mutual superior because we cannot directly interfere, they thought.

Don't tell me, thought Mystic. You guys realized the Avatars were too much for you and prayed to God for a Paratime Angel to be sent to aid you?

Yes thought the beings. Also, due to the laws of this universe, we are forbidden to interfere here. Most magical creatures in this universe do not recognize the authority of the God most high, and such groups as the Elders are the only ones who will work with us.

Hence why I am necessary as I've talked to the Charmed ones before, thought Mystic. Next time, you can just contact me. You don't have to pull me out of my time stream.

They didn't, I did thought a booming presence, and Mystic turned and discovered he was in the sight of God. He promptly prayed and bent his head.

Lord, said Mystic. I didn't realize that you had need of me, your will is mine, and I would gladly assist the Angels of Destiny, anyway.

I know, said God. But you are in grave danger. This universe's temporal beings are much more powerful than anything you've faced so far. This is why the angels of destiny could not interfere with the Avatars. The Avatars create a temporal bubble which none but those merged directly with God can pass through.

So how am I to help against these Avatars? asked Mystic.

Your time globe has been activated with a new command to help you tap the quantum information of the Avatars and their temporal signatures said God. Also, your future self, who is with me, will act as a conduit to give you the power levels you need to manipulate and alter the Avatars' work.

Understood thought Mystic. I hear and obey. May the peace of the Lord be with us all.

It is with you, said God. Now go, and do as I have commanded you.

The party had finished by now. It was rather unfortunate that one of their guests had disappeared in front of everyone. They had to end the party early on that account. Everyone at this point was in the attic discussing what had gone on.

"I don't understand it," said Piper. "I thought that we had killed every demon who could manipulate time, and the new generation of demons should be nowhere near that level of power yet."

"Hello, anyone considered that it could be he's not been kidnapped," said Chris. "For all we know, he could have just gotten bored and went back to his own universe."

"I don't think boredom is characterized by grabbing one's head in pain," said Phoebe. "Besides, we still haven't found out about Wyatt's scrying yet. Perhaps he can find something."

"Well, I got nothing," said Wyatt, pulling away the crystal. "I've even scryed the globe, he's nowhere on it."

"Wait," said Phoebe, "remember Paige, he said something about a temporal shift and someone invading his timeline."

"Well," said Paige, "he's from another universe, it could be that some other entity from some other universe pulled him back and he's fighting it."

"Yeah, still, shouldn't you check with the Elders, Aunt Paige?" asked Wyatt. "Just in case, it is a demon from this universe."

"Sure," said Paige, and she orbed out.

"Well," said Chris. "That pretty well covers it for now. I'm going to head out. Stacey is going to be wondering where I am pretty soon."

"You know bro, you're going to have to tell her sooner or later," said Wyatt.

"I'll tell her I'm a witch when I'm good and ready, all right?" said Chris, and he orbed out.

"Well, I'll keep scrying," said Wyatt. "I hardly think someone sent here by the powers that be is going to get pulled back to his universe that easy."

"Well, I guess that leaves us 4 to clean up," said Leo, turning to Phoebe and Coop.

"Sorry, not happening," said Phoebe. "We still have to pick the girls up from Billie's house." They went out the door.

"Well honey, how about I wash and you dry tonight?" asked Leo.

"20 years," said Piper, "and I still do all the cleanup after an incident happens." They both walked out of the attic to head down to the kitchen.

Down in the Underworld, the demonic throne room was buzzing with activity. More specifically, there were a lot of demons all shouting for attention, and Dumain was attempting to take control of the situation. Finally, he threw a fireball at the ceiling and got their attention.

"Now," he said, "One at a time, what seems to be the problem?"

"We're all uneasy about this new power shift," said one demon. "It's hard enough collecting souls to boost our power base with the Charmed Brothers up there, but now there's this new power everyone is sensing, and we can't figure out what it is. We need to know what to do." At that moment the hubbub started up again.

"SILENCE," yelled Dumain. "I will not have my demons being a disorderly group. Now, so far, my Heir-Apparent, Damien, has been has been telling me that he senses a massive power which apparently the previous generation couldn't fight. Now, what we are going to do is pool our collective powers, and go for an all out battle. The power is much weaker this time than it was when Zankou was still ruling. So, we should be able to fight it on even playing terms. But to get the power we need, we must collect more souls. You will each be assigned a person to tempt and have a deal made with. Are we clear?"

A general mumble of agreement filled the room. With that, they all shimmered out. Dumain then turned to Damien.

"Now, Damien, what's the status on tracing the cause of the problem?" asked Damien.

"The nearest the seer's been able to tell me, it seems a rather powerful entity entered our universe and that was what caused the power from the previous generation to start building up again," said Damien.

"Have you managed to trace the source of the entity's entry?" asked Dumain.

"Temporal tracking is hard, but the best I've managed is somewhere in San Francisco," said Damien.

"I've got a pretty good idea of where it is then," said Dumain. "I want you to go to the Charmed Ones' residence, and see if you can sense the entity there."

"But the Charmed Ones are retired," said Damien. "Wouldn't it be more likely for an entity like that to track to where Piper's sons are living at present?"

"The Charmed brothers still work from the Manor," said Dumain. "Also, the symbolic power of their house makes it the most likely place for any time tunnel to end as it would provide power to break into our universe."

"I hear and obey," said Damien, who shimmered out.

Back at the Manor, Wyatt was looking through the book to find any demon that may still have the capability to manipulate time. Chris walked in and asked, "Any luck?"

"None," said Wyatt. "I've gone through the book nearly 4 times already, and still haven't found anything. Every demon who had the power to control time has either killed themselves, died in an accident, or been vanquished by us."

At that moment, Paige orbed in. "Maybe you're looking at things the wrong way," she said.

"How so?" asked Chris. "Besides a demon or some other entity in Mystic's home universe, what else is there?"

"The Elders said that an old power had resurfaced," said Paige. "They aren't sure, but they believe it's the Avatars."

"Avatars?" asked Wyatt.

"Before your time," said Paige. "Back when you were little, there was a force which attempted to create a Utopia, eliminating good and evil by manipulating time."

"So it could be them doing so again?" asked Chris.

"Not likely," said Paige. "Back then, they needed Leo in their collective to help bring about the change. However, they used the last of their power to undo the Utopia when we forced them to. And without Leo, or someone equally powerful, they wouldn't be able to impose Utopia."

"Wait," said Wyatt. "What about more powerful? Like an angel with temporal power from outside this universe?"

"That's possible," said Chris. "But if they got their hands on Mystic, our universe might not be the only one in trouble. He has access to the entire multiverse."

"I know," said Paige. "That is why we have to find him before they do. Luckily, the Elders also sensed him entering our universe, and they haven't been able to feel his presence anywhere in our universe ever since he disappeared."

"We might be able to help there," said Damien, shimmering in.

"Demon!" shouted Chris, and telekinetically flung him across the room.

"Wait-" Damien said trying to get up but was cut off again as Wyatt orbed him out of the attic causing him to rematerialize in the Dining Room in mid air. He came crashing down on the dining room table. As the table snapped cleanly in two, Damien tried to crawl away, pain searing through his entire body. As the three orbed downstairs, Damien was kicked in the stomach, followed by being blown across the room by the other sisters. As he struggled into a seat, Damien started coughing up blood and then attempted again to speak. "Wait," he said. "I'm not here to attack you. I came to warn you, a very powerful entity has emerged in our universe which may be allying itself with-"

"The Avatars, we know," said Paige.

"The Avatars?" asked Leo popping his head in from the kitchen.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah!" said Phoebe. "Avatars? Didn't we send them away 20 years ago?"

"Yeah, we did, but they're apparently back, according to the Elders," said Paige.

"Oh no," said Piper. "That means that they're going to try to instate Utopia again. And what powerful entity?"

"Remember Mystic?" said Wyatt. "Turns out that both sides here are after him, to prevent him from falling into the hands of the Avatars."

"Wait, who's this Mystic?" asked Damien.

"You don't need to know," said Chris.

"Well if we're going to work together to beat the Avatars, then I think I have a right to know," said Damien.

"Excuse me, we?" asked Wyatt. "Mom and Dad told us about the times they tried to work with you and how they always got betrayed or hurt in the end."

"Then they must have forgotten to tell you about the crucial part us demons played in helping them save the universe on crucial occasions," said Damien. "Fighting the Avatars the first time? Beating the Triad? We had to play crucial parts because the danger they posed affected us all, both good and evil. If the Avatars are coming back, we need to work together to fight them again. So I'm asking again, who is Mystic?"

Chris started to pull out a vanquishing potion when Paige put a hand on his arm. "It's all right," she said. "This won't harm Mystic anyway." So they all took turns then telling Damien about Mystic's origins and previous experience with their universe.

"So if this Mystic is an angel," said Damien, "how would the Avatars even be able to get their hands on him?"

"We're not sure, truth be told," said Chris.

"I may have an idea on that," said Phoebe.

"What is it?" asked Leo.

"Well, I recently talked about this with Billie when I last picked up my kids from babysitting," said Phoebe. "Since she's been doing a lot more time travel lately, she suggested that if the Avatars were powerful enough to alter how people thought, and to manipulate time, it's possible that they could have looked over Mystic's entire timeline by telepathically reading his past, and pulled him completely out of time at some earlier point in his life."

"Wouldn't that affect how we all remember that?" said Piper.

"Well, not necessarily," said Leo. "If we were all near the epicenter of the time distortion, we would have been protected because we saw him get pulled. Our magic would have made sure that time wouldn't have changed for us, even if it did for him."

"Well, that gives us a plan of action then," said Damien. "We have to find out about Mystic's time stream, and locate where they pulled him from."

"I'll start on writing a spell for that," said Chris, orbing up to the attic.

"Meantime, I'll go ask the elders for some help on sending us all back to the relevant point in Mystic's time stream," said Paige, orbing out.

"I'll go report to Dumain and have him summon the entire underworld," said Damien. "If your time travel plan fails, we will need all available magic users, both light and dark to fight back the Avatars."

"Guess I'll go do the same for the light side. There should be a few magical creatures willing to fight the Avatars," said Wyatt orbing out.

"Well, I have to go home and see Cupid," said Phoebe. "I promised him we were going on a date night tonight, and I can't be late for it. See you." She walked out of the house, closing the door behind her.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me then," said Leo. "Feel like another round of scrabble?"

Piper smiled and hit him playfully on the arm. "Fine," she said as they sauntered into the living room. "But no more spelling Zankou with two Os. That's cheating."

Mystic emerged back in time, but at a point in space much different than the Halliwell's living room, and much later than he had left.

The room in question had much the sort of look as a futuristic control room of some kind. The floor was white lighted, but there were four great pillars on all sides of the room. In the center, there appeared to be a console system with twelve or thirteen key pads. It almost looked like something out of that old Superman Movie starring Christopher Reeve, more specifically, Jor-El's laboratory computer room.

'Funny,' he thought. 'Don't think I've ever been here before.' At that moment, a bunch of men and women in black robes and pants walked into the room.

"Welcome, great time traveler," said the one with the beard. "We are the Avatars, and we invite you to join us in the greatest reform possible."

"Greatest reform?" asked Mystic. "How so? Way I heard it, you were removing people's free will."

"Not at all," said the Head Avatar. "We are attempting to allow all humanity to become enlightened. By transcending time, space, good and evil, everyone can just be and live happy and peace-filled lives."

"Interesting," said Mystic. "Your theory is sound. It almost sounds like Zen. One problem though. How do you go about achieving this? A true Zen master is one who blends with what is, rather than actively changing the world to suit his own ideals."

"But by eliminating good and evil, one can strip the world of illusion away and allow all to see the world's true nature," said the Head Avatar.

"Not entirely," said Mystic. "This sounds more like attempting to create the perfect society where everyone is enlightened. One should not do away with good and evil but understand what they are and how they are part of the universe, like the nature of entropy, causing the universe to decay and die, evil, allowing for something of a higher order, good, to form and allow humanity and the entire universe to evolve. Only by understanding this flow and becoming one with it, can one then truly transcend it to what lies beneath. One cannot attain that by simply attempting to stem this process.

"Due to everyone's different positions along the path to enlightenment, attempting to stem the process only creates stagnation, preventing everyone from growing to achieve a full and true understanding of the universe, thus allowing them to transcend to the truth of what is that you wish to show them. By creating a Utopia in short, you are defeating your very lofty and worthy goal."

"I see that we won't be able to convince you of the necessity of showing people now the truth of the universe for their own sakes," said the Head Avatar. "If you won't join us now, then we must show you the error of your ways and why you must join us."

At that moment, Mystic felt the force of 12 localized time distortions remaking every fiber of his being, combined with 12 powerful minds attempting to invade and reprogram his mind. He threw up a psi shield and fought back, blending and reflecting three of their telepathic attacks back at them stunning them. However, the onslaught of the other 9 Avatars was too much for anyone to handle, even him. He succumbed slowly as his temporal shields started to fail. In one last desparate attempt, he flung out a telepathic message to the sisters. I'm trapped by the Avatars, HELP ME! he thought as the entire world started to go black.

Phoebe all of a sudden collapsed to the floor with her hands clasped to the sides of her head.

"Are you all right?" asked Coop.

"Pain, such pain," said Phoebe, still clasping her head. "I can sense it. 12 minds, attempting to bear down on… Mystic!" At that moment, the pain dissipated and she sprang to her feet.

"What happened?" asked Coop.

"Well, judging on what I felt," said Phoebe, "my empathic powers have returned, and, I also know how to find Mystic."

"Mystic? Who's Mystic?" asked Coop.

"I'll explain later," said Phoebe. At that moment her cell phone rang. She flipped it open.

"Hello," she said.

"Phoebe, get over here, quick," said Piper. "I just had the most incredible headache, followed by a message from Mystic."

"Ok, maybe my empathy hasn't returned," said Phoebe. "Where are you?"

"I'm home right now. Paige is here too," said Piper.

"I'm on my way," said Phoebe. She hung up and turned to Coop. "I'm really sorry, I have to go. My sisters have felt the same message, and we've got to try to figure out what to make of it."

"I understand honey," said Coop, stroking her cheek and giving her a kiss. "I'll see you at home. Meantime, I can review my assignments for tomorrow's charges."

"Ok baby, bye," said Phoebe dashing out of the Restaurant.

At the manor, Chris had orbed downstairs with the spell in hand. "I've got it," said Chris. "We just have to all say this together and then we'll be taken back in time to wherever the Avatars grabbed Mystic."

"Save it," said Piper. "Phoebe, Paige and I all got a very powerful telepathic message from Mystic, saying he's already been captured by the Avatars. If they're still controlling things from the same place, we already know where to find him."

"Ok," said Chris. "But how are we going to fight the Avatars? I finally found an entry on them in the book, and it said that there was only one potion which could fight them but that there was only one left."

"We'll have to use that one," said Phoebe. "Can you believe it? We've been retired for 20 years, and now here we are right back at it, but with our kids too."

"Well, I know for one, I am getting WAY too old for this," said Paige.

"I'm with you on that," said Piper. "I want to be able for just once to enjoy my old age, even with demons running through the house every time Chris and Wyatt come to visit."

"Well that's not going to help with the problem at hand," said Chris. "We're going to need all our force to fight these guys, especially since we only have one potion left."

"He's right," said Leo. "So, are we ready to go?"

"We are, you're not," said Piper. "You're pushing 60 now, so you are going to relax buster."

"Well hey, I still remember my time with the Avatars like it was yesterday," said Leo. "Maybe I can convince them to stop, or, remember some inherent weakness besides the potion."

"Ok, fine," said Piper. "But this is the last time any of us except for Wyatt and Chris take on evil from now on."

"Deal," said both Phoebe and Paige.

At that moment, Wyatt orbed back in. "Good news guys, I managed to round up every leprechaun, fairy, troll, nymph, etc in the magical kingdom," he said. "We're ready with the fall back army if the plan fails."

"Change of plan, but good you got them, we may need them," said Piper.

That's when Damien shimmered back in. "Ok. Dumain has the entire Underworld ready as soon as the word is given to attack the Avatars, but we're not sure how much help we're going to be. Considering how new most of the demons are to fully fledged powers, Dumain feels they're probably not seasoned enough for a battle of this magnitude."

"If all goes well, we won't need to worry," said Paige. "This is strictly a rescue operation. We go in, we free Mystic, we get out. With any luck, the Avatars will be too weak to do anything, and then Mystic can return back to his home universe."

"Well as soon as that happens, we'll sweep in to take care of the rest of the Avatars," said Damien. "I don't know about Wyatt's buddies here, but Dumain feels, along with the rest of the Underworld, that we can't stand the threat the Avatars pose while alive."

"Don't be so cocky," said Wyatt. "I have all forces of good magic ready to fight the Avatars as well. And we may even have one advantage left which can help us fight them. Excalibur!" At that moment, the Stone appeared from the attic, and Wyatt pulled Excalibur from the Stone. "I didn't think I would ever actually need this," he said. "But if there was ever a time where the magical world needed its king, it's now."

"Then let's do it," said Chris. And with that, they all orbed out.

The Halliwells all arrived in the Avatars' control room.

"I have a bad feeling about this," said Chris. "With one potion, I'm not so sure we're going to make it."

"We know you're here," yelled Wyatt, drawing Excalibur. "Surrender Mystic to us, or we will decimate the lot of you."

The Head Avatar phased in. "You needn't threaten," he said. "Mystic can come and go of his own free will. Mystic, the Halliwells are here to see you. Do you want to speak with them?"

Mystic walked out, wearing a grey robe, his four wings spread out brilliantly through the robe. His eyes were black as night as he turned to face them. "You shouldn't be here," he said. "The world must be enlightened. Without Utopia, chaos will ensue."

"Mystic, this isn't right," said Leo. "Believe me, I remember. This isn't the way to go about peace. Come back with us."

"Mystic has already made his decision," said the Head Avatar. "Now leave before we remove you."

"He didn't choose willingly," said Phoebe. "He sent the message to us that you had trapped him. And I can sense from you that you rewrote his mind. Also, you're hiding something else." Jingles rang as Phoebe said this.

"Zachariah, remove them from time," said the Head Avatar. Zachariah attempted to remove Phoebe from time, but Jingles rang as she channeled Zachariah's powers right back at him, and removed him from time and space.

"You will not stop this world from achieving its full potential," said the Head Avatar, and promptly created a separate dimension. At that moment, the Halliwells found themselves in a vast plane of nothingness, the control room at the far end of the plane. Behind them was a castle, looking much like that of Camelot.

"Since, Wyatt Halliwell, you would raise the holy sword in violence against us, you will see the folly of your choice in battle," said the Head Avatar.

"By what army?" asked Chris. At that moment, several thousand people appeared from all over the world on that field. They were all from different backgrounds, having nothing in common, except wearing medieval weaponry and armor, and having that same black and vacant stare in their eyes, like they were blindly following, but with the life sucked out of them, true zombies.

"Would you fight those innocents you supposedly protect?" asked the Head Avatar.

Wyatt turned from the scene for a moment. It was at that moment, the appointed time that all manner of magical creature appeared, both light and dark, and bowed before him. But they were worried for there was such a look of pained confusion on Wyatt's face that none were sure which way he would decide, but hopeful that in the end, his decision would protect the planet, and not cast it into stagnation. At that moment, Wyatt, with grim determination, turned and raised Excalibur.

"Attack," he yelled, and the entire magical kingdom rushed forward.

The battle started with an incredible flourish. However, it soon became a bloodbath. The magical creatures at first attempted to fight their way through this mob of innocents, even attempting to have such creatures as the fairies fly over to the control room to fight the Avatars, but they soon discovered to their dismay, two important things. One, this was far from a simple armed mob, but a fully trained medieval army, albeit a possessed one. Two, they were not going to simply sit idly by and put up a token resistance while the creatures of Good and Evil attempted to undo the Avatars' work.

Soon the magical creatures realized that there was no hope, and started to unleash their powers on the army. However, while the possessed took massive casualties, they unleashed a fury of a battle upon those of magic. Trolls were outnumbered five to one, completely surrounded, and slowly being wounded as they were thrust at by spear after spear. Wyatt, leading a troop of white lighter warriors and Elders alike, thrust headlong at the military commander, but his troops were quickly surrounded by 4 score cavalry, outnumbering his men ten to one, and it was lucky that the Elders had lightning attacks to even the odds, so it was more like two to one. The pixies were horribly decimated by volleys of arrows.

But while they were being hopelessly shoved back, the magical creatures were still giving almost as good as they got. The trolls were taking out 5 men for every attack that hit them, and the Valkyries were reigning blow after blow down upon the foot soldiers. The army they had been saving for Ragnarok was fighting with pole-arms taking out the auxiliary cavalry, which must have numbered in the hundreds. The battle, turned into a war of attrition, with men and women being killed and killing for hundreds of square miles. The archers from the castle in Camelot remaining the only ones untouched.

All the while, the Avatars were watching from the control room to make certain they would not be interfered with.

"Nothing can distract us while we impose Utopia," said the Head Avatar. "We will deal with the survivors later. Come, Mystic."

Mystic turned and joined the remaining 12 Avatars, and tapped his paratime capabilities to make up for the 13th Avatar lost, to impose Utopia on the world. Soon, Utopia was complete, and the entire world, save for the plane on which they were on, was in a state of altered control, and apparently perfect harmony.

However, Wyatt would have none of it. Seeing that his troop was slowly losing, and that the forces of magic were not going to defeat the possessed in time, saw only one option left open to him. "Mystic, I hearby proclaim you free," he yelled, and mustering all of his strength, threw Excalibur and guided it telekinetically towards Mystic. At that moment, the Light of God shone upon the sword, and merging God's might, power and glory into the sacred blade, it thrust through Mystic's back.

Mystic staggered as he felt the grey robe disappear, and every last bit of Avatar programming leave his body. His eyes cleared, and he started to shine with a brilliant white light once again. As he returned to normal, Mystic remembered his command code, and yelled at the top of his voice, "Tushak Shinayak Avatara!" This slowed down time and revealed every Avatar down to their smallest micron. Mystic then retro-psychokinetically sent a blessing into the Avatars' pasts, altering their timeline, so that they never sensed Mystic's arrival in their universe.

At that moment, time sped up to normal, but at the same time, everything on the separate plane slowed to a dead halt. Time slowly reversed, with white light orbiting in spirals around Mystic. He spread his arms as his future self merged with him, giving him an extra set of wings, and the Light of God shone through him, rewinding time to undo the events that had led him here, but also to undo the Utopia put in place by the Avatars, and put an adequate timeline in its place.

While this happened, the demons, good magical creatures, and possessed people, slowly dispersed into little streams of light, rewound and returned, to the beginning of these events, before this story ever took place, leaving them with no memory of the events which had transpired, and leaving them blissfully unaware, that their entire existence, had for one instant, hung by a thread, on the edge of a very dangerous precipice. When all this was done, Mystic smiled, turned incorporeal, and with the separate plane, disappeared in a dazzling flash of light.

When Mystic became corporeal again, after having traveled as an EM stream, he emerged back in the Attic, in the exact same spot where this whole adventure had started.

The entire Halliwell gang walked into the attic and started to crowd around him.

"What happened?" asked Chris. "When we were getting cornered by those possessed people, I thought we were goners."

"Wait, you remember?" asked Mystic.

"Sure we remember," said Wyatt. "And I must say that you should thank me. I never knew Excalibur could do that, but it certainly saved you from being a possessed Avatar for the rest of your days."

"Well, thankfully, that wouldn't have happened anyway," said Mystic. "Since I'm astral projecting into this universe from my home, someone would have found me and woken me up. Though, if the Avatar powers came back through with me, that would have screwed things up royally, so yes, thank you. Still, though, I'm surprised I was so easily taken over. Normally the Light of God protects me, even against entities that powerful."

"I might be able to answer that," said a booming voice, followed by a swirl of blue orbs. In orbed an elder, who looked strangely to Mystic like the actor who played Q from Star Trek, the Next Generation.

"What happened then?" asked Leo.

"Wyatt needed to awaken to the fact that he was King of all good magic," said the Elder. "Without having done so, the new guidance for humanity would not be in place. So, Uthuriel's protection was removed to make sure that Wyatt would awaken and realize that all needed help."

"Sounds a little odd for God to do something like that, but I'll go with that on faith," said Mystic.

"As you well should," said the Angel of Destiny, as she orbed in a swirl of white orbs. "The Lord God has dictated that every one of you is to be rewarded for defeating this force which, well intentioned though it was, was a danger to the entire multiverse. Wyatt, you have been officially crowned King of Magic in this Universe. Chris, you have been appointed by God as his counsel."

"Well hey, what about us?" Paige joked.

"Well that's the thing," said the Elder. "Chris's fear that you were all goners was partially correct."

"What?" asked Phoebe.

"You will get to say good bye to your respective families," said the Elder. "You will be orbed there so you may set your affairs in order. After that, you will all be taken to the afterlife, except for Wyatt and Chris, who were the only two Uthuriel was able to save when he altered time back to the way it was supposed to be. Unfortunately, you all, Piper, Leo, Phoebe, and Paige, were in reality all killed by swarms of possessed people. The energy necessary to save you went into exorcising and saving those thousands of people killed. Leo will be made an Elder again, Paige will be upgraded to full white-lighter status, but Piper and Phoebe, you will be brought to the afterlife."

"What?" said Piper, "After all that, I don't get any more time with my husband to enjoy the rest of our lives together? You are some real pieces of work."

"That has been taken into consideration," said the Angel of Destiny. "God had the final say and made Leo a part time Elder. He will spend the rest of his time with you, Piper. You'll have a happy eternity together, sharing your afterlives forever. It is time that the Charmed Ones fully left this world to make way for the new generation and just rulers of good magic."

"If that's the way it has to be, I can live with that as long as Coop can summon me often so I can see my children," said Phoebe.

"That can be arranged," said the Elder. The Angel of Destiny raised an eyebrow but the Elder gave the Angel a look and she relented.

"There is one thing I don't understand," said Paige. "What about Mystic, here? All of us have received rewards or something, but I haven't heard one thing about a reward for him."

"This is my calling," said Mystic. "I deal with stuff like this on a daily basis. This however, was a little outside your league. So you're going to get rewarded for it. You deserve to be. For me, though, living this job until I attain enlightenment is reward in itself. I take joy in serving the Lord God's command and helping his love propel the multiverse.

"Now I strongly suggest that you guys orb out of here and say good bye to Coop and Henry before your time here runs out. I hope you all have a good afterlife, but it's my time to scoot. I've been gone too long, and I don't want someone to find my body and call an ambulance, thinking I've fallen into a coma."

"Well, it was good to see you again Mystic," said Leo, giving Mystic a hug. "Drop by some time when your work load is light."

"I will," said Mystic.

"Well, it was nice meeting you," said Chris, shaking Mystic's hand. "By the way, what's with that Uthuriel business the elder was mentioning?"

"Uthuriel is my real angelic name," said Mystic. "I rarely go by it except amongst other angels because I can't afford to have demons constantly pestering me while I'm living my normal life. Besides, the title The Mystic Avenger has a nice ring to it."

"What?" said Piper. "You used a pseudonym to live a normal life, while we were busting our asses for eight years, with demons interfere in our lives, and all because we couldn't use something as simple as a pseudonym? That is so not fair and I am going to have a word or two with your God when I get up there."

"It was your destiny," said Mystic. "It has made you stronger, and helped you raise Wyatt and Chris to be such good people."

"Oh, come here," said Paige, "Enough fighting. Let's have a group hug." They all huddled together in a big group hug.

"Well, I'll always consider you part of the family," said Phoebe. "You certainly fight demons with the best of them."

"Same goes for me," said Piper. "Aside from all of this, it was good having you around before, and you gave us the time of our lives now, even if it was the end of our lives."

"Me three," said Paige.

"Me four and Chris five," said Wyatt.

"Hey, let me speak for myself," joked Chris. Everyone laughed and huddled in for a group hug.

"Well, I guess this is it," said Mystic. Putting his hand out, he said, "We were and are the best team at fighting evil in this universe. Here's to the power of family to stem the tide of stagnation."

They all then put their hands together. "To family," they said, and pulled their hands back.

At that moment, Mystic went incorporeal again, and returned to his universe, leaving them all, including the Elder and the Angel of Destiny, whether they would ever see him again.

_Footnote: As I was reediting this story, I ended up having a huge amount of retropsychokinetic energy flying through me (the Random Number Generators I had active were producing statistically significant numbers like crazy) and I also ended up astral projecting to the Charmed Universe afterwards. However, the astral version of how the rest of this story panned out didn't quite go like here. The John de Lancie Elder was finally sent by the Angel of Destiny to earth for attempting to tamper with Leo's fate on the test where he fell from grace closer to our time period, the Avatars were completely stripped of their temporal powers by me and a good 6 other Paratime Angels for attempting to actively interfere with the multiverse and unfortunately, because I was simultaneously attempting to create a dimensional portal between my apartment and the Doctor Who universe while reediting the story, I inadvertently tied the Doctor Who universe and the Charmed universe together through this story. So, now this story serves as a para-temporal connection between 3 universes. As a matter of fact, the entire event ended up overloading my system, and now I can't do squat on the retro-psychokinesis tests, and it takes literally all of my strength just to pull off significant scores on my remote viewing tests. This is the last time I ever channel the energy of three universes through myself, even with my future self attached. Oh well. Hope you enjoyed the story, and look forward to my next one, when I'm fit enough to travel Paratime again. –Uthuriel._


End file.
